Sarah + David's Backyard Wisconsin Wedding

What words can I use to describe this day! Intimate, snowy, full of love. Sarah and David’s outdoor tent wedding in small town (Ladysmith) Wisconsin— north of Eau Claire— was truly a day to remember forever. If you want to read a little more about them, check out their engagement photos in this blog post. (Which we took the night before!)

The wedding ceremony was set for 9:30am, so I arrived just before the sun rose to the farm where the wedding was being held. The girls were already getting hair and makeup done in the master bedroom. They were wide awake and chipper, probably with help from the coffee brewing in the kitchen!

Sarah loves vintage fashion, and her dress was simple, classy, and just a touch of another era. So perfect for her. Nicole, her older sister, did her hair (I’m so impressed!) and helped her into her dress. The sweet love between these two makes me dream of my sister’s wedding or my own someday. To share the bond these two do, it’s so invaluable!

This first look! YOU GUYS. So gorgeous and perfect. Also, it felt soooo “Anne of Green Gables wedding”. Was this Prince Edward Island or small-town Wisconsin!? (Side-note: I’m obsessed with Wisconsin in the fall now. Please send all future Wisconsin brides my way because I want to photograph EVERY WEDDING EVER in Wisconsin!)

The wind was bitter, so Sarah & David and I ran inside for a little bit of warming up. Sometimes you just need to be able to feel your fingers! ;) After our break, the entire bridal party joined us outside in the snow flurries for some quick wedding group photos.

After we finished up photos of the bridesmaids and groomsmen, we headed back to the house. Everyone was helping finish up cutting pies, making coffee, or taking last-minutes details out to the tent in the backyard before guests began to arrive!

Just before the ceremony began, the sun started to come out from behind the clouds! The snow on the grass and tent began to melt, and it was such a sweet thing to notice.

You can’t finish up a wedding day with a few more photos of the bride and groom! This wedding was a game changer for me. I feel like I was able to become a guest (or maybe even family member!) for 24 hours. All of these images feel so real, raw. In the moment photos and hopefully, pictures that will tell the story of the Hilpert wedding day for the years to come. Sarah and David have a powerful and kind community around them! And that was so strongly felt on their wedding day.

Sarah & David, I am so over the moon for you two! Thank you for trusting a girl from Iowa that you’d never met to photograph you beautiful wedding day. I loved visiting Wisconsin, and hope to come out to see you all in Boston someday in the future! May your trip out east to your new home together be full of sweet time together, and more laughter than you could imagine. :)